Three Years
by life.rhapsody
Summary: KakaIru. Kakashi's strange behavior has Iruka thinking.


Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

Iruka sat heavily on his bed, a sigh followed. He blankly stared at the wall across from him. _What happened? _His gaze dropped, _Why__ does it feel like if he's avoiding me?_

Earlier that day the jounin had walked into the mission room, hesitantly stood by the doorway, and walked back out. Iruka couldn't see any reason as to why the jounin would have left so suddenly. He would have thought that maybe it was because the mission room was crowded, but it wasn't, not really, and because it wasn't that crowded, Iruka saw the jounin clearly look at him, hesitate by the entrance, and leave. At first Iruka was confused, and figured that maybe Kakashi had forgotten his mission report and simply went back to get it, but hours passed and still the jounin didn't make another appearance.

When Iruka got off his shift Iruka was kind of hoping that he jounin would be waiting for him either at the mission room or his apartment. But he hasn't seen the silver haired jounin since he hesitantly left the mission room.

Iruka plopped back onto the bed and opted to stare at the ceiling, _That__ guy…_he sighed again and closed his eyes as his tiredness came back to him. He was too lazy to get up and change out of his navy blue uniform and remove his leg bindings. He felt himself drifting into sleep and his eyes flutter close with a certain silvered hair jounin still on his mind.

* * *

Iruka was woken up by soft kisses on his face and a hand entwining their fingers with his limp one. Iruka fluttered his eyes open and tried focusing them on the figure above him. The dim moonlight hardly aided his vision, but slowly he was able to see the shock of silver hair and an eye fixed on him. His eyes focused and he remembered what happened earlier that day. He frowned up at the older man and Kakashi cringed. 

"Why did you leave?" Iruka asked suddenly before he really thought about it, but it was out now, there was nothing he could do about that.

Kakashi gave him a confused look, and after a moment he slightly tilted his head to convey that he was still confused.

"Why did you leave the mission room today?" he was clearer this time. He averted his gaze and continued, "You looked at me and you left, I thought that you probably forgot your report, but you didn't come back," his voice sounded broken and the older man's gaze softened.

Kakashi leaned down and kissed the younger man's forehead, "After I left, I went back to my apartment, and ended up taking a nap," he kissed a scarred cheek, "that, and I left because I didn't want to embarrass you."

Iruka looked up at the older man, confused, "Embarrass me?" the older man nodded, "With what?"

"Well…" he trailed off, and a sudden realization hit him, "Iruka, do you know what day it is?"

Iruka furrowed an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Iruka, what day is it?" he asked again, a tone of amusement in his voice.

Iruka frowned, "Friday, what about it?"

"Alright, anything special about this day?" a smile grew on his lips as he looked down at the confused chunin.

"Uh…" he thought for a moment, _Is__ this a trick question of some sort? Wait –_ "Wait, what does this have to do with what happened earlier today?"

Kakashi chuckled and climbed off of Iruka, "Come on," he gestured towards the living room. Iruka sat up and walked towards the older man who left into the dark living room.

"Kakashi?" the lights turned on and Iruka gasped. On the coffee table there was a bouquet of, about, two dozen velvet roses, connected to them were three heart shaped balloons. Next to the bouquet were two boxes of chocolates, and leaning next to them was a large red gift bag, with white tissue paper.

_Oh, god – It's not __Valentine's day__ is it –_ Iruka looked at his lover and then back at the table, and then slowly back at his lover.

"Got the hint?" Kakashi asked, amused.

"Uh…"

Kakashi chuckled, "I'll give you a hint: it's not Valentine's day."

Iruka's brows furrowed, and his eyes went back up to the three balloons. _Three hearts_ he smiled, _three much like – _Iruka's eyes went wide with the sudden realization and a look of "Oh, shit" plastered itself onto his face.

Kakashi gave a hearty chuckle, "You remember now?"

"Our…" Iruka's gaze slowly made its way to his lover, "Our Anniverssary?" Kakashi smiled brightly and nodded at him. A blush of embarrassment crept onto his cheeks, _How__ could I forget!_ "I – I –"

Kakashi closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around the chunin in a tight embrace, "Don't worry about it Ruru," he kissed the chunin's forehead reassuringly.

"I'm so sorry!" he blurted out, "I – how could I forget!" he blushed hotter, but the older man only held him tighter.

"Really, Ruru, don't worry about it," he kissed the scarred nose, "Now come on, open your gift!"

Iruka kept his gaze away from the older man, "But I can't – I shouldn't – I didn't – "

Kakashi kissed him then, effectively interrupting his rant, "Really, Ruru," he smiled softly at him, "Don't worry about it." He took the younger man's hand into his and led him to the couch, sat down and pulled Iruka down onto his lap. Iruka's blush didn't leave his cheeks as looked at the roses that sat in a vase, and the boxes of chocolates next to them…then the large gift bag next to that.

_How could I forget_, he felt guilty now. Kakashi, his surprisingly romantic Kakashi, went through all this trouble, and he went and forgot their three year anniversary.

"Go on," Kakashi said softly by his ear, "Open it."

Iruka looked at the gift bag instead of reaching out for it, "Kakashi – I"

Kakashi kissed his cheek and reached for the bag, and placed it on the chunin's lap, "Go on," a hint of excitement in his voice.

Iruka looked at him before looking at the gift bag on his lap. He tentatively tugged at the white tissue paper as arms wrapped around his waist. He pulled the tissue paper out and reached into the bag and felt something soft. He gently wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it out. Iruka's eyes went wide. It was a large plush, one nearly as long as his arm, with soft silver cotton like strands that puffed out like a certain jounin's, with a small straw hat onto its side. It wore a blue, brown plaid, collar shirt under a gray vest, along with a pair of what seemed khaki pants, much like the attire you would find on a real scarecrow. Its limbs hung limply along it's sides, keeping it's plush texture. But what Iruka found the most amusing what the Scarecrow's face. The scarecrow's half-lidded eyes matched that of his lover's, one blue the other red, the details also included the vertical scar that crossed the left eye. Half of its face was covered by a navy blue cloth, and out of curiosity, Iruka pulled it down and it revealed a grin. Iruka ran his fingers over the custom details as tears weld up in his eyes.

Kakashi kissed his lover's cheek as he noticed the tears forming in the chocolate orbs, "So you won't be alone while I'm gone anymore," he said softly.

Iruka hugged the plush scarecrow, rubbing his face into the puffy, soft silver hair, before hugging the real thing. He wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and buried his face into his neck. Kakashi tightened his hold on the trembling man, "Thank you," he managed to whisper in the older man's neck, and hugged him closer, "Oh, Kakashi, I love you so much."

Kakashi smiled against his shoulder, "I love you, Iruka," he rubbed a soothing hand on Iruka's back, "I love you."

Iruka pulled away and cupped the pale face before locking his lover into a passionate kiss. A pale hand cupped his jaw as he pulled away, a soft smile of his lips and a blush on his cheeks, "I'm sorry I forgot, 'Kashi, but…" he planted a soft kiss on the other pair, "I'll make it up to you," he whispered against his lips.

Kakashi grinned and hooked an arm under his chunin's legs and stood, the plush keeping its place on his lover's lap. Iruka wrapped his arms around his lover's neck as he was taken into the bedroom.

The scarecrow plush sat on the free nightstand near the bed, and the two lovers proceeded to express their undying love for each other.


End file.
